The disclosed embodiments relate generally to devices to connect wireless devices with vehicles.
Cellular mobile telephony, or wireless telephony, provides voice data links between users of mobile devices and fixed devices on a network. It gives users using a wireless phone mobility without regard to how they are actually connected to the network. This is done by providing access points or base station units that can hand off the connections of mobile devices without interruption of the service. 2G (second generation) digital mobile phone service such as the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), EIA/TIA-136 Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), TIA-IS-95 Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), and the AMPS (analog mobile phone service) are examples of such telephone networks.
In order to participate in wireless telephony more easily while driving, many drivers have endured considerable expense in terms of time, money, and effort to have a hands-free car kit professionally installed in their vehicles. The primary advantage to the hands-free car kit is that the user can carry on a conversation without having to hold a wireless phone to their ear. This frees up the hand that otherwise would have been holding the phone to perform other tasks, such as driving the car. The hands-free car kit may even provide other advantages such as superior reception and sound quality as compared to the wireless phone alone, since the hands-free car kit takes advantage of the vehicle's pre-existing audio or stereo system, speakers, and possibly an antenna. Another advantage is that users in a vehicle also often connect their wireless phone to the vehicle power supply in order to conserve battery power and possibly to recharge the battery.
In a typical usage scenario for a hands-free car kit, the user dials a phone number on their wireless phone to place a call or receives a call from another user. The user places the wireless phone into a special cradle which has been customized for physically holding that handset and for providing electrical connections to a microphone, speakers and possibly an antenna, as may be associated with the hands-free car kit. In many cases, the cradle and related electrical connections are adapted to only one phone model or a small number of closely related phones. The very limited number of phones that a hands-free car kit can work with becomes a problem when the user desires to change to a new or different wireless phone. The user may want to change their phone because the new phone offers better features, is associated with a different wireless service provider desired by the user or for any other reason. Newer phones have historically been smaller and differently shaped than existing phones, again giving rise to incompatibility with previously installed hands-free car kits. Other concurrently offered wireless phones tend to have different physical and electrical characteristics.
If the user purchases a wireless phone that is incompatible with a previously installed hands-free car kit, the car kit can be replaced with a newer or different hands-free car kit associated with the replacement phone. Unfortunately, replacement of the existing hands-free car kit would involve considerable expense in terms of time, money and effort, not only to install the replacement hands-free car kit, but to remove the existing hands-free car kit.
One solution to connecting a hands-free car kit and a mobile handset is to use a wireless networking technology or protocol, such as the short range wireless protocol BLUETOOTH® (referred to herein as “Bluetooth”), to facilitate communication between the hands-free car kit and the mobile handset. In this solution, a Bluetooth-enabled hands-free car kit and a Bluetooth-enabled wireless phone communicate via a wireless connection so that the wireless phone can utilize the hands-free car kit without a physical connection.
Bluetooth refers to a specification designed to standardize wireless transmission between a wide variety of devices, such as personal computers (PCs), cordless telephones, headsets, printers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), etc. Bluetooth, however, has not yet been widely adopted by manufacturers.
Almost all of the hands-free car kits and wireless phones on the market today do not include Bluetooth capability. Automobile manufacturers and hands-free car kit manufacturers have not included Bluetooth functionality in their products, perhaps because Bluetooth-enabled wireless phones have not been widely adopted. Bluetooth-enabled wireless phones have not been widely adopted, possibly because of the additional expense or the dearth of applications available for them (e.g., few hands-free car kits with Bluetooth functionality). In addition, Bluetooth retrofitting, such as by adding a clip-on module or dongle to a wireless phone, adds significant expense, bulkiness, and weight to a wireless phone. It would be desirable to be able to provide Bluetooth capability to wireless phones without requiring a separate module or dongle, with its associated expense and size, to existing wireless phones.
Overall, there is a need for a method and apparatus that solves the above problems while supplying the above benefits, as well as providing other advantages.
In the drawings, the same reference numbers identify identical or substantially similar elements or acts. To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, the most significant digit or digits in a reference number refer to the Figure number in which that element is first introduced (e.g., element 204 is first introduced and discussed with respect to FIG. 2).
Note: the headings provided herein are for convenience and do not necessarily affect the scope or interpretation of the invention.